Progressive facial hemiatrophy with localized scleroderma.

A 46-year-old woman who presented with progressive facial hemiatrophy (PFH) following localized scleroderma is described. The patient had a markedly deformed and depressed plaque surrounded by erythema on the right cheek. She also showed linear scleroderma with hair loss on the occipital area and morphea lesions on the neck and shoulder.

Identification of the contact sites of a factor that interacts with motif I (alpha CE1) of the chicken alpha A-crystallin lens-specific enhancer.

A lens-specific enhancer, an 84bp element between base pairs -162 and -79, of the chicken alpha A-crystallin gene is composed of two motifs, alpha CE1 (-162 and -134) and alpha CE2 (-119 and -99). Previous studies showed that a nuclear factor which binds to alpha CE1, termed alpha CEF1, is present at high levels in lens cells. Methylation interference analysis identified an inverted repeat of 5bp separated by 4bp, 5'-CTGGTTCCCACCAG-3', between positions -153 and -140 as an alpha CEF1-binding site.

Binding of a factor to an enhancer element responsible for the tissue-specific expression of the chicken alpha A-crystallin gene.

We have characterized a regulatory region of the chicken alpha A-crystallin gene using transfection assays, which revealed that a 84 base pair element (-162 to -79) in the 5' flanking sequence is necessary and sufficient for lens-specific expression. A multimer of this element functions as lens-specific enhancer and synergistically activates transcription from chicken alpha A-crystallin or beta-actin basal promoters fused to the CAT gene. In vivo competition experiments demonstrated that DNA sequences containing the 84 bp element reduced alpha A-crystallin-CAT fusion gene expression.

Hydrophobicity-dependent fluorescence properties and intracellular fluorospectroscopic behavior of phototoxic drugs.

Fluorospectroscopic behavior of chlorpromazine, mequitazine, afloqualone and piroxicam, which are known to induce skin photosensitivity, was examined in both homogeneous solutions and human buccal mucosal cells. Each drug showed large Stokes' shifts and their fluorescence intensities increased in hydrophobic solvents. These results indicated that the drugs tested can be used as hydrophobic fluorescence probes.

[A case of psoriatic arthropathy complicated with clinical feature of ankylosing spondylitis].

Unlabelled: A 25 years old man with psoriatic arthropathy complicated with clinical feature of ankylosing spondylitis was reported. 230 Japanese cases of psoriatic arthropathy were discussed.

Result: 1) commoner in male 2) the cases that skin lesions were prior to arthritis and the cases that arthritis was prior to skin lesions were almost the same number 3) rheumatoid factor was seropositive in 17% of the cases 4) HLA-B27 was present in 9 of 50 cases and 7 of these 9 cases had central type arthritis 5) the cases had accompanied nail dystrophies in a high rate 6) concerning on skin lesion, many cases had atypical psoriatic lesion 7) 21.

Possible involvement of oxidation of lipids in inducing griseofulvin photosensitivity.

Griseofulvin-sensitized photo-oxidation of lipids was examined in vitro. Iodometric determination and thiobarbituric acid assay proved peroxidation of squalene, cholesterol and red blood cell membrane lipids by UVA irradiation in the presence of griseofulvin. Simultaneous progression of Type I (non-singlet oxygen) and Type II (singlet oxygen) processes is likely because the oxidation products of cholesterol through both processes were identified by thin layer chromatography.

Afloqualone phototoxicity--photosensitized lipid peroxidative potency and its biological significance.

Photosensitivity due to afloqualone (AQ), a muscle relaxant acting on the central nervous system, has tended to increase with increasing clinical use of this drug by orthopedists. The initial step leading to drug photosensitivity is a photochemical reaction between photo excited phototoxic compounds (drugs) or their metabolites and target molecules in skin. The present study was an attempt to determine whether unsaturated lipids are one of the target molecules of AQ-photosensitivity.

Adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma in pregnancy.

Adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma, a lymphocytic leukemia caused by human T-cell lymphoma virus-I (HTLV-I), is prevalent in southwestern Japan. A Japanese woman with adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma in the third trimester of pregnancy was delivered of an infant by cesarean section. She did not breast-feed the child, who has remained free from HTLV-I infection.

UV-A induced DNA nicking activities of skin photosensitive drugs: phenothiazines, benzothiadiazines and afloqualone.

Plasmid pBR 322 was subjected to UV-A irradiation in the presence of photosensitive drugs, i.e., phenothiazines [chlorpromazine hydrochloride (CPZ), promethazine hydrochloride (PMZ) and mequitazine (MQZ)], benzothiadiazines [penflutizide (PFZ), hydrochlorothiazide (HCT) and methyclothiazide (MCT)] and afloqualone (AQ).

Phototoxic potential of afloqualone, a quinazolinone derivative, as determined by photosensitized inactivation of bacteriophage.

Effect of UV-A irradiation on bacteriophage lambda in the presence of afloqualone (AQ) was examined to obtain in vitro evidence for phototoxic potential of AQ, a centrally acting muscle relaxant. Neither AQ itself nor the long-lived photoproducts affected viability of the phage, but the phage was inactivated when it was irradiated in the presence of the drug. Photosensitized inactivation was efficiently repressed by the presence of radical scavengers such as hydroquinone, cysteamine and cystein but not by D-mannitol, benzoate, formate and dimethyl sulfoxide (.

A case of meconium peritonitis: the pathological findings.

An autopsy case of meconium peritonitis is described. This baby was born at 24 weeks of gestation. The pathological findings were generalized peritonitis and this inflammation spread to the umbilical cord.

Lipid peroxidative potency of photosensitized thiazide diuretics.

We examined the lipid peroxidative potency and photohemolytic activity of thiazide diuretics, especially penflutizide (PFZ), to determine the molecular mechanism of thiazide phototoxicity. Ultraviolet A irradiation of squalene in the presence of PFZ, hydrochlorothiazide, methiclothiazide, benzylhydrochlorothiazide, or trichlormethiazide induced in vitro peroxidation as measured by production of the hydroperoxides and thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances. Among the thiazides, PFZ showed the highest potency to photooxidize lipids.

Effects of PUVA therapy on skin surface lipids: skin surface lipid peroxidation in psoriasis vulgaris and its biological significance.

PUVA therapy (Psoralen + UVA irradiation) is an effective mode of photochemotherapy for psoriasis vulgaris. The biological significance of PUVA therapy for psoriasis vulgaris has mainly been considered to be based on DNA, especially the formation of DNA crosslinks between complementary DNA stands. On the other hand, we have already reported that skin surface lipids were oxidized by UVA irradiation in vitro and this reaction was enhanced in the presence of 8-methoxy-psoralen by a singlet oxygen mechanism.

Phototoxic potential of mequitazine, a phenothiazine derivative, as determined by the photosensitized action on microbiological systems.

In order to determine phototoxic potential of mequitazine (MQZ), a phenothiazine derivative, in vitro tests were attempted using microbiological systems. When Escherichia coli was irradiated with ultraviolet-A light in the presence of MQZ, the surviving fraction was decreased with increasing fluence. Irradiation of bacteriophage lambda in the presence of the drug decreased the surviving fraction as well.

A case of clear cell adenocarcinoma of the uterine cervix in pregnancy.

An extremely rare case of clear cell adenocarcinoma of the uterine cervix in pregnancy is reported. The primary lesion was first found at 34 weeks of pregnancy in a 34-year-old patient, and was cytologically suspected to be malignant. At 39 weeks of pregnancy, the patient underwent abdominal cesarean section concomitantly with removal of huge right ovarian tumor (3050 g) and delivered a normal male baby weighing 3590 g.

Chlorpromazine-sensitized photooxidation of squalene.

In connection with chlorpromazine-induced skin photosensitivity, chlorpromazine-sensitized photooxidation of squalene was studied in vitro. When squalene (in ethanolic solution or in an aqueous suspension) was irradiated with UV-A light in the presence of chlorpromazine, the yield of peroxidation products was greatly increased. Lines of evidence for the peroxidation were obtained by the iodometric determination and the thiobarbituric-acid method.

Activities of glycogen synthetase and glycogen phosphorylase in the human endometrium: relative distribution in isolated glands and stroma.

The activities of glycogen synthetase and glycogen phosphorylase were studied in endometrial samples obtained from 51 premenopausal women during the menstrual cycle. The total activities of glycogen synthetase and glycogen phosphorylase and the activity of the active form of glycogen phosphorylase increased gradually from the proliferative phase to the secretory phase and reached a maximum during the midsecretory phase, while the activity of the active form of glycogen synthetase increased slightly. In 30 of the 51 women, the relative distribution of glycogen synthetase and glycogen phosphorylase activities in isolated glands and stromal cells was determined following collagenase digestion of the endometrial specimens.